Chronicles of coaching American football in Sicily (2008 and 2009), in Sweden (2010 and 2016), in Switzerland (2012), winning a Division III National Championship in France (2012-13) and in Spain (2015 and 2016) as well as walking the Camino de Santiago in August-September of 2010.

About Me

I have been married to Laurie for over 45 years. Our oldest son, Andy, lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife Jenn and their son Kevin. Our youngest son Mike lives in Oxnard, California with his wife Vanessa and their kids Jacob and Mary. Although I retired from teaching in June of 2007, the 2015 football season marked my 45th year of coaching football at five high schools in Southern California's Ventura County - Thousand Oaks, Westlake, Rio Mesa, Buena and Newbury Park. In 2008, I opted to try something totally different in my coaching career and started coaching in Europe. My EuroBall stops have been in Catania, Sicily in 2008 and 2009, Hässleholm, Sweden in 2010, Thun, Switzerland in 2012, Lyon, France in 2012-13 with the 12-0 National Champion Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons, Murcia, Spain in 2015, Rivas, Spain in 2016 and finally Upplands-Väsby, Sweden in the Spring of 2016 and 2017. Join me as I explore and chronicle my newest adventures coaching American football in Europe. My European touring also included a 500 mile Pilgrimage Walk on the Camino de Santiago in Spain in 2010.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Early Christmas in Las Vegas

Typical of most families in this day and age, we are not going to have the chance to all be together on Christmas Day. For this reason, Laurie and I decided to drive out to Las Vegas, Nevada to have an early Christmas with our son Andy and his fiancee Jenn at their home. We left the house early Saturday morning for the 4 1/2 hour drive through the Mojave Desert.

Food and gas stop in Victorville, California

What's the Big Boy peeking at???

After driving for about two hours, we stopped once again at a Bob's Big Boy restaurant. If you went to high school in the Pasadena/Glendale areas of southern California during the 1960's, Bob's was a perennial hangout on Friday and Saturday nights.

Of special interest would be the Friday night runs in the fall after your high school football games (VERY "American Graffiti"ish) when you would hook up with friends from several other schools to compare how the evening's contests played out and, of course, to brag about how your team was the best in the area!

Somewhere along the line in the 1990's, as more and more of the Bob's franchises closed their doors permanently, I believe a law was enacted on the state not federal level that anyone who is a recovering Big Boy double-deck hamburger addict MUST stop and eat at one of the few remaining Bob's still in existence. Not being one wanting to face possible jail time, we stopped and ate here so as to not ruin the holiday season.

Jenn and Andy with their champagne wedding flutes.

Laurie thought that these would be a great present and I think she was right!

The Grand Kids

So far this is as close as we are to being grandparents. Jenn and Andy have two British bulldogs, Blitz on the left and Dooley (named after the long-time and highly successful University of Georgia Bulldog's Head Football Coach Vince Dooley).

How about we go eat at the Bellagio or the Venetian or maybe at Mandalay Bay... NONE OF THE ABOVE!

Guy Fieri, the star of the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" show ( www.foodnetwork.com/shows/guys-idiners-drive-ins-and-divesi/index.html ) said on one of his programs that this sports pub is one of the best places to eat in Las Vegas. Located in a strip mall and open 24 hours a day, I believe that it would definitely come under the heading of "Dive" in the show's title.

The "World Famous" Four Kegs Stromboli

We ordered the small ones and they were worth the fear factor of walking into this fine dining establishment. The outer shell was incredibly sweet tasting and the meat fillings were quite tasty indeed. GOOD CALL GUY!

Jenn had to take this picture of us because Blitz and Dooley can't.

We had a GREAT weekend together just hanging out, watching football games on TV and catching up on each other's lives. Obviously, a big topic of discussion was the fast approaching date of their wedding in Cancun, Mexico on February 14th. I am hoping we can make one more trip out to the desert to see the four of them before going back to winter in Catania.